Thankful Thursday

 

 

Sometimes God has to protect me from my own stupidity!

 

And I am so thankful for His intervention

 

He knows my needs before I even ask

 

He understands that there are times when I don't know I need to ask

 

Yesterday was an example of this, and I am so grateful God had me covered

 

I made some purchases at Home Depot

 

One of the items was a 12' section of handrail

 

Upon getting out to my vehicle, the handrail, which was on top of my pile of purchases went up on top of my extension ladder on the roof of my van

 

I planned to strap it down after I loaded the other items into the van

 

That didn't happen

 

Out of sight, out of mind

 

I proceeded to drive to my jobsite, about 5 miles away, in the city

 

I worked there for 45 minutes or so, and then headed to my next site

 

I jumped on the turnpike for 6 miles or so, driving 70 mph

 

When I arrived at that site, I began unloading my materials

 

It was at that point that I remembered the handrail, and realized that I had not strapped it down as I had intended to do.

 

With a bit of fear, I looked up at the ladder where I had placed it

 

There it sat, just where I put it, with nothing but God's hand holding it in place

 

To say that I was thankful is very much an understatement

 

In those brief seconds before I saw it was still there, I had visions of it flying off and hitting a vehicle behind me, possibly going through someone's windshield

 

The end result could have been terrible, but God reminded me that He was there, watching over my circumstances like always, and on this occasion, sparing me from the pain of causing any kind of damage to anyone or anything other than my pride

 

I'm thankful for those times when God introduces humility in gentle ways

 

I'm thankful for His reminders of how desperately I need Him

 

He is faithful; I am grateful!

 

another area of God's faithfulness is His ongoing willingness to forgive

 

I've been challenged with my need for repentance recently as I read through the gospel of Luke

 

I'm very thankful that Jesus came "to save His people from their sins."

 

I'm thankful for the forgiveness that results when I confess my sin

 

and I know agreeing with God about my sin is an area I need growth in

 

I can come up with lots of excuses for not repenting, but as the psalmist said, keeping silent about my sin just compounds the consequences and makes me miserable

 

I'm thankful for the healing that results from acknowledgement

 

I'm thankful for the cleansing blood of Jesus and for the opportunity to now walk in the light with God because of His death on the cross

 

Thankful that I can experience the newness of life offered to me because Jesus died and rose again

 

Thankful that someday I will see Him face to face, and worship Him forever

 

Until that day, may I be faithful to worship Him in my everyday experiences

 

Just this evening, I was asked why I write these Thankful Thursday posts.

 

I referred to the 10 lepers who came to Jesus for cleansing.  When they experienced that cleansing on their way to the priest, one returned to express his gratitude.  Jesus response was to ask where the other 9 were.

 

I don't want to be guilty of being one of the 9

 

This leper has experienced cleansing in so many ways, and I want to continually remind myself of the many things I have to be grateful for.

 

I'm just one leper letting other lepers know I know Who deserves the credit for my cleansing